Automotive vehicles include vehicle seat assemblies for supporting a seated occupant in the vehicle. The seat assemblies comprise a generally horizontal seat cushion and a seat back pivotally connected to the seat cushion by a recliner assembly, allowing adjustment of the seat back relative to the seat cushion between a plurality of recline positions. Further, the recliner assembly typically allows the seat back to be folded flat against the seat cushion.
Disc recliners are well known in the vehicle seating art and are commonly used to pivotally connect a seat back to a seat cushion. Disc recliners commonly include a fixed cylindrical inner disc fixedly secured to the seat cushion and a cylindrical outer disc fixedly secured to the seat back and rotatably coupled to the inner disc. Disc recliners further include a locking mechanism for maintaining the angular position of the seat back relative to the seat cushion. The locking mechanism typically comprises an annular rim of teeth on the outer disc and several pawls each with a plurality of teeth. The pawls are moveable, either sliding or pivoting, in a radial direction between a locked position and an unlocked position. With the pawls in the locked position, the teeth on the pawls are interlocked with the rim of teeth on the outer disc, thus locking the angular position of the seat back relative to the seat cushion. When the pawls are moved from the locked position to the unlocked position, the teeth on the pawls are no longer interlocked with the rim of teeth on the outer disc, thus allowing adjustment of the seat back relative to the seat cushion.
It is often desirable to have a vehicle seat with a seat back that is moveable from a seating position to a forwardly dump position for allowing passengers to pass to the rear seats. Thus the seat back must have a defined range of motion. In prior art recliners, brackets that mount the recliner to the seat back and seat cushion are configured to have stops that limit the motion of the seat back relative to the seat cushion. These additional components add to the cost of the recliner, which in the current automotive supply industry is highly undesirable. Alternatively, tabs are formed on the inner and outer discs to define a range of motion.
Further, recliners of the prior art are normally ganged together so that only one release lever is required to operate the seat. When the occupant manipulates the lever to adjust the relative angle of the seat back or other desired operation, the recliners on both sides of the seat are simultaneously activated. A problem arises when prior art seats are manufactured. If the recliner on the inboard side is not perfectly aligned with and extending parallel to the recliner on the outboard side, the recliners will not be properly mounted on the rod joining or ganging the recliners. Improper mounting causes the recliners to bind increasing the effort required to operate the seat. Imperfect alignment is common within normal acceptable build tolerances.
Further, certain recliners of the prior art have a memory feature. The recliner is capable of returning to a predetermined position after the seat back has been moved forward to the easy entry position. It is desirable to incorporate a memory feature into a recliner assembly.